Since its inception in 1995, the Java™ programming language has become increasingly popular. (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.) Java, which is an interpreted language, enabled the creation of applications that could be run on a wide variety of platforms. This ability to function across a variety of different client platforms, i.e., platform independence, and Java's relatively easy implementation of network applications has resulted in the use of Java, as well as other programming languages that provide platform independence, in endeavors as basic as personal web pages to endeavors as complex as large business-to-business enterprise systems.
However, since applications, as well as the Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) to which the applications connect, may be provided by many different vendors, a mechanism that enables these disparate computational entities to communicate with one another was needed. The Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) is a specification that addresses such needs.
J2EE Connector Architecture provides a mechanism for integrating J2EE-compliant application servers with enterprise information systems. The J2EE Connector Architecture defines a Common Client Interface (CCI) for EIS access. The CCI defines a client API that enables clients to interact with heterogeneous enterprise information systems. Application servers, i.e., servers onto which applications may be deployed, Enterprise Information Systems need only follow a J2EE Connector Architecture specification in order to interconnect with one another.
Unfortunately, the J2EE specification does not resolve all interconnection issues. For example, the J2EE connector architecture leaves responsibility for component upgrades to each application server vendor. For example, an installation desiring to install a new component of their connector system is presently required to halt the system, i.e., quiesce all traffic, replace the production version of the component with an upgraded version, test and finally place the upgraded version into production. Such procedures often require users to wait for the system to come back up.
What is needed is an improved mechanism for substituting a new version of a connector component for a production version of the connector component.